The November Sweeps period on television offers a chance for writers and actors to showcase the best they have. Daytime television has been featuring one of today’s brightest and most talented actresses in years. Kate Linder, who has portrayed Esther Valentine on CBS’s number one rated daytime hit “The Young and the Restless,” has been glowing with talent under the writing and supervision of the incredibly talented Maria Arena Bell. Bell has brought “Y&R” back to the show that her late father-in-law, William J. Bell, once wrote and produced. Mr. Bell was the most talented daytime scribe and boss for decades. His son, Bradley Bell, helms their sister show, the number two rated daytime soap “The Bold and the Beautiful.”

Kate Linder, however, hasn’t shined this bright since Mr. Bell’s writing. Kate Linder received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 10, the same week she marked her 26th year on “The Young and the Restless” and her 30th as a United flight attendant. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, "Y&R" co-creator Lee Phillip Bell and cast mate Jeanne Cooper spoke at her well-attended ceremony.

If you’re Kate Linder, you don’t quit your job as a United Airlines flight attendant because you’re cast for a one-day, one-line role on “The Young and the Restless.” Linder has done both jobs simultaneously for the 26 years she’s been on the number one rated show (that’s number one every single week for 18 years!) in daytime television—with the resulting confusion among passengers creating hilarious anecdotes! The passenger/fan response has been overwhelming and incredulous. Linder is also active with the USO, visiting troops shipping out and in Afghanistan and Pakistan and in Guantanamo Bay. In late ’05, Linder was elected Governor of the Daytime Programming Peer Group of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (yup, the folks who put on the Emmys), she was reelected last year.

Linder spoke exclusively and candidly with Canyon News from her beautiful Hollywood home. “I am so honored to be working with Jess (Walton) Jeanne (Cooper) and Elizabeth (Hendrickson), the actress who plays my daughter, Chloe. When they decided to bring her back, I was stunned and pleasantly surprised. Maria Bell called me and told me that it was top secret. It was a great reveal.” Linder is correct, a reveal that has become synonymous with Maria Bell’s brand of writing. When asked about the amazing storyline she’s facing now, after the death of Esther’s longtime employer and best friend Katherine Chancellor, Linder became teary eyed, “I have to say, it was some of the most incredible and hard material to read and learn, though it wasn’t very hard to play. I went with the moment. I thought what would my life be like if I had lost my dear friend of two decades. Jeanne’s an amazing actress and she’s like a mother to me. I am so honored to be working with her all of these years.” Admiration doesn’t flow in one direction. Cooper loves Linder and she often speaks warmly of her costar. The two have an incredible chemistry that you see rarely on the small screen today.

Long before the death of Katherine, Linder was giving an incredible performance. But now the actress is doing Emmy worthy work. How in the world will “Y&R” choose their best supporting actresses to nominate in the next few months? Walton is superb, Thomas Scott is always great, Sharon Case is sublime but Linder comes head and shoulders above the rest. Her latest turn in high drama cannot be compared. It’s really a marathon performance seeing Esther grieve over the loss of her best friend. She and Jess Walton have some incredible scenes coming up in the coming weeks. Kate added, “This is the best time I’ve had on the show since Mr. Bell was writing it. We’ve got an incredible team of talented writers headed up by Maria (Arena Bell) and I am just so honored to have this opportunity. Esther is very important to me and I feel like I really am getting to know a different side of her. I know the show has a huge cast, so I am very grateful for the storyline I’ve been given.”

“Y&R” cast members are grateful to Linder as well. She’s bringing the show the much needed and deserved attention it’s been wanting for months with a role that continues getting better by the day. Kate Linder’s work hasn’t taken many of us by surprise. Canyon News has been a fan of hers and Esther’s for years. Ms. Linder amazes the audience and critics with a performance that gives all of her fans great pride in knowing that we’ve backed her all of these years. Bell Productions is known for their stable of stars and their loyalty to them. Linder is well deserving of such loyalty by the top notch production team of “Y&R.” Surely with the incredibly beautiful performance of Kate Linder’s and the dazzling writing skills of Maria Arena Bell, “Y&R” will continue being daytime’s number one drama.

In my humble opinion, Ms. Linder’s work deserves to be considered for the upcoming Emmy nomination period.

If anyone has any doubt across the globe that Linder has her feet planted solidly on the ground, Hollywood legends, socialites and citizens can vouch for her being not only a beautiful and talented actress, but an upstanding citizen of the City of Hollywood as well.

Kate is an eternal optimist and tireless worker for many charities and was named celebrity spokesperson for The ALS Association (ALSA) in early 2005. Her brother-in-law was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) in December, 2004 and Kate went to Washington, DC to lobby for more funds to fight this disease, which has no cure, for the past four years. In 2006, Linder won the organization’s All-Star Award for her passionate service to the cause and won the Packman Award for her work in 2007. Kate travels around the country to participate in and encourage other volunteers at ALSA’s main fundraisers, Walk to D’Feet ALS and participates in their fundraising dinners at local chapters. She’s also active with TV Cares, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ AIDS charity, and the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Los Angeles.

When Linder is not on screen pouring her heart out to her fans as Esther Valentine, you can be assured she’s somewhere in Hollywood helping others.